


A Black Rainbow

by vexatiousVixen (vivaciousArcanist), vivaciousArcanist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Reinterpretation, Gen, Time Travel Fix-It, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:27:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29486013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivaciousArcanist/pseuds/vexatiousVixen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivaciousArcanist/pseuds/vivaciousArcanist
Summary: The disastrous outcome of the Battle of Hogwarts led the Girl who Lived to seek out a way to change the past in order to avoid the tragedy, but in order to do so she must live the years she spent at Hogwarts all over again.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	1. A Doomed Timeline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another trans HP fic written to spite Rowling.

The months after The Battle of Hogwarts had been hard for Hazel Potter, The Girl Who Lived. Though she’d overcome the Dark Lord Voldemort, the cost at which she’d done so had been immense. While the Wizarding world celebrated her victory all she felt was a bittersweet melancholy, as the full group of that battle’s survivors was small enough to count on both hands. The Battle, while technically a victory, had been a crushing defeat on both sides. 

From what she’d seen the other survivors hadn’t fared much better. Draco had to deal with inheriting a failing House whose most notable recent achievements included assisting the Dark Lord in his return to power. Fenrir, and Pius had both received Azkaban sentences, with Pius facing the Kiss for treason against the Ministry. McGonagall and Pomfrey were the only staff of Hogwarts to have survived the battle and were forced to shut the school down the first few terms following the Battle as they had to replace the rest of the faculty and face that their friends weren’t coming back. Molly, the only surviving member of the Weasley family was absolutely devastated, having lost her entire family she’d been inconsolable for months prior and only recently begun showing signs of improvement. Hagrid’s brother Grawp had also been devastated, though one could only wonder where he was now as after the Battle he’d retreated into the Forbidden Forest, presumably to return to the mountains.

After the battle Hazel had taken some time out of the public eye to sort herself out, to process the emotional trauma of the day and do some self reflection. One of her more burning questions was why her body had been that of a woman when she was in the misty replica of King’s Cross Station that she’d assumed was the afterlife. After talking it over with others she figured out that she was apparently transgender and had been unable to realize earlier as she’d never been in a position where she could figure that out, as something had always been happening in her life.

Though she was glad to have figured this out and to have been able to start on potions that would allow her to go through the correct puberty, she couldn’t help but feel empty inside. Her entire social circle had been wiped out in the course of a single day. Desperate to see them again, she went back into the Forbidden Forest to find the Stone of Resurrection, but the shades it produced were merely echoes of who they’d been in life. They’d be immortalized in the stories of that day, but most would fail to accurately capture the events of that day, as there were few survivors, and even fewer would be willing and able to recount the events of the battle. 

The idea that the memory of those she considered family would be forgotten and the regret that the battle had come at such an enormous price tormented Hazel, who after figuring out her own issues began looking for a way to undo this cost. She spent days scouring whatever texts were available to find a way. She ruled out Time-Turners as they only went back a few hours and had all been destroyed. As the time she spent searching grew longer and longer she began to lose hope and she would have to accept the permanence of her friends’ deaths, but she wasn’t ready to give up quite yet. After months of searching she had found a lead that looked to provide the answer she was looking for in the Restricted Section.

* * *

At last, at long last, months of searching for a way to avert the tragedy at the Battle of Hogwarts she’d found it. There in the hundredth or so book she looked in was a ritual that would allow her to alter the past. She copied down the ritual into a paper notebook she’d bought at a muggle store for the convenience of it, put the book in its proper place, and left the Hogwarts library. Before she could begin the ritual she had to gather a few necessary components. 

One of the more annoying components to acquire had been the location. The ritual she’d found would send her mind back in time and if she were to change the past the best point for her to jump back to would be her 11th birthday, the day she first was introduced to the Wizarding World, with the ritual working best if you performed it at the same spot you were in the destination time. The location had been so annoying to secure as the current owner hadn’t been too keen on selling, fortunately a light Confundus Charm and a generous offer for the rundown hut had been more than enough to convince him.

As the time approached on July 30th 1999, the day before Hazel’s 19th birthday, she began laying out everything else. First she poured an Ageing Potion in a semicircle around where she would be lying when the ritual began and once the semicircle had been completed she poured another semicircle, this time with an Potion of Youth until it met with the Ageing potion. The Deathly Hallows, or Talismans of Death, as the ritual put it, were to be laid out around the circle of potion, the Cloak opposite the fireplace, above her head and where the two potions met. The Stone and Wand were placed in a way that would separate the circle into 3 equal parts, the Stone to her left and the Wand to her right. All that was left was to wait for midnight and activate the ritual and she set an egg timer to go off when it was time. When the egg timer went off she laid down in the circle and began moving her wand in a slow clockwise motion. As she did so the potion circle around her started to glow with an vibrant green light, and each time the light passed one of the Hallows it would glow with a deathly white light. Once her wand had made a complete circle all that was left was to move her wand to the center of the circle and then down to where the 8 would be on a clock.

As soon as her wand crossed the edge of that circle and the world fell away around her. She existed in this timeless void for several minutes in a state of suspense on whether she had succeeded or failed and died. As the world began to fade back into view, one of the first things she noticed was that she was facing the wall rather than the fireplace and that she was no longer holding her wand. The next thing she noticed was a large BOOM that was enough to shake the Hut confirming she’d been successful in the ritual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if the jump from 3rd person omniscient to 3rd person limited is a tad jarring.  
> The survivors doesn't include the students who fled to Hogsmeade, as they weren't at the battle, though all of the teacher and Hazel's friends were. Additionally the survivors were chosen mostly at random, as they would bare little consequence on the actual story.


	2. A Very Familiar Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hazel arrives to her second 11th birthday and finds herself reliving a very familiar conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Unintentional misgendering and deadnaming (though let's be honest, if the Dursleys knew it would absolutely be intentional)

Before Hazel could get her bearings on being back on her 11th birthday again another BOOM crashed at the door causing Dudley to jerk awake. 

“Where’s the canon?” he’d asked the same way he had the first time as Uncle Vernon came from the other room wielding a rifle.

“Who’s there? I’m warning you, I’m armed” he threatened. Hazel knew that confidence would soon fail, but couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated from the anger in his voice.

With a final loud BOOM the door was knocked off its hinges and landed to the ground kicking up a fair amount of dust. After a moment Hagrid ducked under the door frame and stepped in the room while Dudley ran across the room to join his parents. The tone was somewhat lightened, at least for Hazel, by Hagrid turning around, saying “Sorry ‘bout that.” and propping the broken door back in the door frame.

Uncle Vernon, still trying to act brave, attempted to threaten Hagrid into leaving stating “I demand that you leave at once sir, you are breaking and entering.” while pointing his rifle at him.

As undeterred as he’d been in Hazel’s recollection of their first meeting Hagrid walked up to Uncle Vernon and bent the rifle skywards a moment before it fired and broke open a small hole in the ceiling.

“Dry up Dursley, you great prune” he said before turning to Hazel and continuing “An’ here’s Harry!”

Hazel suppressed a cringe at that, she’d have to come out to him eventually, but doing so with the Dursleys present at all would not be a smart move.

“Las’ time I saw you, you was only a baby” Hagrid continued “Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got yer mum’s eyes.”

Hazel glanced over at Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia who were clearly intimidated, but trying to mask it with their anger.

Ignoring this, Hagrid turned to Hazel and said “Anyways, Harry, a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right” while he pulled out a slightly crushed box and handed it to Hazel. She opened it, and like before was a chocolate cake with  _ Happy Birthday Harry  _ written on in green icing. Against her better judgement she began to tear up a little, she’d seen him die and he didn’t remember anything about her, but here he was showing her the same act of kindness he’d done the first time they’d met, as for him it was the first time.

She looked up and meant to say thanks, but couldn’t find the words to do so, and instead asked “Who are you?”

He chuckled and said “True, I haven’t introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Yeh’ll know all about Hogwarts, o’course.” 

Hazel stared blankly at Hagrid for a moment before deciding to try and keep events as similar to the first time she’d met Hagrid and responding “Er, no, sorry”

He looked shocked at that. “ _ Sorry _ ?” he barked, and gestured towards the Dursleys. “It’s them who should be sorry! I knew yeh weren’t getting yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn’t even know abou’ Hogwarts, fer cryin ‘out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?”

“All what?” she replied, she didn’t want to lie to him, but she couldn’t let on that she knew a lot more than she was supposed to, at least not yet.

Hearing that enraged Hagrid who thundered “ALL WHAT? Now wait jus’ one second!” He turned to face the now cowering Dursleys. “Do you mean to tell me, that this boy - _ this boy! _ \- knows nothin’ about ANYTHING?”

“Anything about what? Is someone gonna clue me into what’s going on?” Hazel asked, already knowing exactly what’s going on.

“Stop” shouted Uncle Vernon, who finally decided to speak up. “Stop right there sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything.” 

Hagrid shot a furious look towards Vernon. “You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left for him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An you’ve kept it from him all these years?”

“Kept  _ what _ from me? She asked, knowing what would come next.

“STOP! I FORBID YOU!” Uncle Vernon shouted out in panic.

“Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh. You’re a wizard Harry.” Hagrid said.

“I’m a  _ what?”  _ Hazel gasped

“A wizard o’course, an a thumpin’ good’un I’d say once ye’ve been trained up a bit” Hagrid responded while sitting down on the sofa. “With a mum an’ dad like yours, what else could yeh be? An I reckon it’s abou’ time yeh read yer letter”

Hagrid pulled the letter out of his coat, she walked over and took it after making sure to position herself away from the Dursleys. In Emerald green lettering it was addressed to H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. Strange, she could’ve sworn the address was slightly different the first time she’d received it. Opening it up it read the same as it had the first time she’d received it. 

“‘We await your owl’, but I don’t have an owl.”

“Gallopin’ Gorgons, that reminds me,” Hagrid said before fishing out a ruffled-looking owl from inside his coat and scrawled out a quick note to Dumbledore before giving it to the owl, shifting the door over, sending the bird on its way, putting the door back, and returning to sit back down on the sofa.

“He’s not going.” said a very angry Uncle Vernon. “We swore when we took him in we’d put a stop to that rubbish, swore we’d stomp it out of him!”

“You knew?” Hazel asked “you knew all along and you never told me?”

“Knew! Of course we knew, how could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?” shrieked Petunia, deciding to make her entrance to the conversation. “Mother and Father were so proud of having a witch in the family! Then she met that  _ Potter _ at school and then she had you and I knew you’d be just the same, just as strange, just as  _ abnormal.  _ And then, if you please she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!”

Hazel did her best to look surprised and said “Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!”

Hagrid looked like he was about to erupt. “CAR CRASH! How could a car crash kill Lily an’ James Potter? It’s an outrage! A Scandal! Harry potter not knowing his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!”

“He will not be going” spouted Uncle Vernon

“An’ I suppose a great Muggle like yerself’s gonna stop him are ye’?” countered Hagrid

“Muggle?” asked Dudley the half-giant timidly.

“Nonmagic folk like yerself.” Hagrid answered in a somewhat lighter tone before turning back to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia “This boy’s had his name down ever since he was born, he’s going to the finest school of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the world and studying under the finest headmaster that Hogwarts has ever seen.”

“I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!” Vernon yelled, adding the final straw to the camel’s back.

Hagrid grabbed his umbrella and lowly growled out “NEVER- INSULT- ALBUS - DUMBLEDORE -INFRONT -OF ME!” and swung it to point at Dudley causing him to grow a pig’s tail in the back of his trousers causing all 3 Dursleys to begin panicking. Uncle Vernon pulled Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room and slammed the door.

Hagrid’s expression immediately softened and in a rueful town he said “Be grateful if yeh didn’t mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts. I’m, strictly speaking, not supposed ter do magic.” 

After Hazel nodded in agreement he took off his thick black coat and tossed it to her. “It’s gettin’ late and we’ve got loads ter do tomorrow. Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an’ that” Hagrid then laid down on the sofa to sleep.

Hazel moved over to the newly vacated bed, as Dudley was with his parents in the other room and pulled the coat over her. As she let herself rest she thought about what this would mean. Her friends were all alive, but none of them would know her outside the stories of the “Boy”-Who-Lived. Thinking about that made her want to puke, the whole world had built up so much hype around her and none of it is even accurate. Granted, she couldn’t blame them, she herself didn’t know until less than a year ago, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. 

And then there was the issue of the Dursleys. They were bad enough in her original life, with them thinking her a cisgender boy, she feared what would happen should they find out she’s transgender as well. She’d have to deal with them sooner rather than later, lest she remain in the closet for another 8 years.

Deciding to leave the problems for her to solve later she went to sleep, tired from the exhausting last few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how much this borrowed from canon content, there wouldn't be much place where the conversation would deviate


	3. Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some discussion with Hagrid about various topics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Unintentional misgendering, coming out

In the morning Hazel awoke to a tapping on the window. She opened her eyes and sat up, Hagrid’s heavy coat falling off her. Hagrid was still fast asleep oblivious to the owl outside the window. She opened the window to let the owl in, causing the owl to drop the newspaper on top of Hagrid and begin to attack Hagrid’s coat when he didn’t wake. 

“Hagrid! There’s an owl!” Hazel loudly said to wake Hagrid up

Still sleepy Hagrid grunted out “Pay him, he wants payin’ fer deliverin the paper. Look in the pockets” Hazel checked a number of pockets before finding the right one and pulling out a handful of coins, though she remembered much about her original 11th birthday minor details such as what pocket the coins were in weren’t as well remembered. “Give him five Knuts, the little bronze ones.”  
Hazel counted out five Knuts and placed them in the small pouch on the bird’s leg. After receiving payment the owl flew out the window. Behind her, Hagrid sat up and stretched. He then walked over to the fireplace, lit it and pulled out a pack of sausages to cook over the fire.

“Best be off Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter Londan an’ buy all yer stuff fer school” 

“But I haven’t got any money, and you heard Uncle Vernon, he wouldn’t pay for me to go and learn magic.” Hazel said, she knew full well that she did, but she had to play the part of a confused child who knows nothing of magic, at least for a while longer.

“Don’t worry about that,” said Hagrid “D’yeh think yer parents didn’t leave yeh anything? First stop fer us is Gringotts, Wizard’s bank. Have a sausage.” 

Hagrid pulled the couch over to the wall by the bed and they sat down, Hagrid on the couch and Hazel on the bed. As they began to eat Hazel decided to ask about her defeat of Voldemort, at least so she would have a reason she knew her story. “Last night, what did Petunia mean when she said my parents got themselves blown up?”

Hagrid looked anxious and muttered to himself “I never expected this,” before sitting up and continuing “I don’t know if I’m the right person ter tell yeh, but someone’s gotta, yeh can’t go off ter Hogwarts not knowin’. It begins with a person called, er, well I don’t like sayin’ the name if I can help it. No one does.” 

“Why not?”

“Gulpin’ gargoyles, people are still scared.” Hagrid ran his hand through his hair. “Blimey, this is difficult. See there was this wizard who went _bad_ , as bad as you could go. Worse even. His name was…” Hagrid braced himself, but couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

“Couldn’t you just write it down?” Hazel suggested.

“Nah, can’t spell it. All right, _Voldemort._ ” Saying this he shuddered before continuing. “This wizard, ‘bout twenty years ago started lookin’ fer followers. Got ‘em too, some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o’ his power. Dark days, Harry. Didn’t know who ter trust, didn’t dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches. He was takin’ over. Course some stood up to him, an’ he killed ‘em horrifically. One of the only safe places left was Hogwarts.”

“Now yer mum an’ dad were as good a witch an’ wizard as i ever knew. Head boy an’ girl at Hogwarts in their day!”

“Maybe he thought he could persuade ‘em, maybe he just wanted ‘em out of the way. All anyone knows is he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came an’, an’...” before he finished the sentence he trailed off looking mournful. The pain of her parent’s deaths still affected Hagrid to this day. 

Recomposing himself Hagrid continued “You-Know-Who killed ‘em. An’ then he, an’ this is the real mystery of the thing, he tried to kill you, too. Wanted to make a clean job of it I suppose. But he couldn’t do it. Ever wondered how you got that mark on your forehead? That was no ordinary cut, that’s what you get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh, took care of yer mum an’ dad, your house even, but it didn’t work on you. No one lived after he decided ter kill ‘em, not even the best witches an’ wizards of the age, that’s why yer famous Harry, that’s why yer the Boy Who Lived!”

Yikes, she hadn’t anticipated that title being thrown in her face so quickly, though she probably should have. “I say something wrong?” Hagrid asked.

SHOOT! Against her better judgement Hazel had visibly grimaced at that. She should’ve been able to keep it off her face, but for whatever reason she hadn’t. Perhaps it was that she trusted the half-giant enough she didn’t feel the need to be so guarded around him. It’d probably be better to be honest about being trans from the start, she didn’t want to blindside any of her friends with something she’s been all along. “I-I…” before continuing she glanced over at the door to the other room the Dursleys were in and noticed the door open and Uncle Vernon peek his head out long enough to confirm that Hagrid was still there before pulling it back in and closing the door. “I think we should get going, the Dursleys are probably getting anxious.” she stammered out.

Hagrid frowned, but pulled his pocket watch out and said “Yer right, we’re a bit behind schedule, best be off.”. Hagrid then got up and pulled the door down and gestured for Hazel to follow. Hazel followed and met Hagrid outside by the boats. There were two boats, the old rowboat that she and the Dursleys had used to get to the Hut all those years ago and a Hogwarts boat that Hagrid had taken.

“This here’s one of the boats from Hogwarts, they tend ter like to keep them in the Black Lake by Hogwarts, but I was given permission ter take one to get to yeh.” Hagrid said, helping Hazel into the boat before getting in himself and tapping the side with his umbrella. The boat started towards London and Hagrid sat back.

“About the end of our conversation in the Hut, I noticed Uncle Vernon peek his head out before I could get out what I was saying.” Hazel said.

“Was wonderin’ ‘bout that. Not somethin you feel you can say ‘round the Dursleys?” Hagrid asked in a kind voice.

“N-no, they hate me enough as is, me apparently being magical, I don’t want to give them any more reason to hate me. I don’t want to give them anything they could use to hurt me.” Hazel shakily replied. Even though she was a competent witch and would be able to defend herself handily against them in an emergency, she didn’t want to think of day to day life with the Dursleys and being largely unable to cast magic for fear of it being picked up by the Trace.

Hagrid suddenly looked very concerned. “We’re away from them now, whatever it is I promise I won’t let the Dursleys know about it.” He said in an attempt to calm Hazel’s nerves.

“I-I…” Hazel took a breath in and continued “I grimaced at being called the ‘ ** _Boy_ ** who Lived’ because I don’t feel as though I am a boy.”

Hagrid sat back in a moment of contemplation before silently nodding and saying “Believe it or not, yer not the only person I’ve met in that kind of situation. ‘Course, at the time, I assumed it was because they were a Metamorphmagus, but now I'm not too sure ‘bout that."

“A Metamorphmagus?” Hazel asked, the only Metamorphmagus she knew of had been Tonks, but had Tonks been trans as well? She’d never really thought about that, but thinking back some things began to make a bit more sense, Tonks treating femininity with the same casual blasphemy orangutans show to god, downright refusing to go by their given name. How had she not noticed before?

“A Metamorphmagus is a witch or wizard who can control their physical appearance just by thinkin’ about it.” Hagrid said, answering her question. “They’re rather rare, so when they mentioned how they feel I’d just assumed it was tied to that.”

Hagrid paused for a moment before continuing. “I’m assumin’ that if you don’t feel like a boy you wouldn’t want people to know yer the ‘Boy’ who Lived?”

Hazel nodded and replied. “Yes, would there be anything we could do to avoid that if possible?”

“Well, given that no one’s seen yeh since that night all those years ago the most they know about what you look like is that there scar on yer forehead." Hagrid said, tapping Hazel’s scar.

“So if we hide that under my hair no one will know?” She asked.

“Yes, but long term it might be best to find some other way to hide that scar, wouldn’t want to be knocked back in a duel and have yer scar uncovered. But for a trip to Diagon Alley just the hair should do” Hagrid replied. “Have anythin yeh’d rather be called?”

Hazel paused for a moment before replying “H-Hazel if you please”

Hagrid nodded and said. “Well Hazel, given your hesitancy to mention this with the Dursleys I reckon it’d be best if you were removed from their care at the earliest convenience. I reckon we might be able to pick up yer parents’ will from Gringotts while we’re there and go from there.”

“Would you really?” Hazel eagerly asked. That seemed too good to be true, especially given Dumbledore sent her back to the Dursleys year after year for the so called “Blood Protection” he'd cast over Privet. Despite allegedly being important enough to send her back to the Dursleys year after year it had never mattered once. She tried to find something about it but came up short, and while that might be because it was an ancient spell she couldn't help but wonder if it ever really existed.

“I sure will, course I reckon I ought to let Dumbledore know about all this, seems like something he’d want to know about.” Hagrid replied as the coastline came into view.

As they approached the shore and made landfall conversation quieted for a bit. After they got out of the boat Hagrid tapped his umbrella to it causing the boat to shrink enough to put in his pocket. 

“I doubt you want to make the rest of the journey on foot.” Hagrid said while gesturing for her to come over. “Come here, I’ll hail us a bus.” Hagrid extended his umbrella in the gesture to summon the Knight Bus and a few seconds later it was there.

The conductor, Stanley Shunpike stepped out to greet the two. “Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this afternoon. Whereabouts are you headed?”

“The Leaky Cauldron in London please.” Hagrid answered the man handing him a few coins.

They boarded the bus and in a few short minutes they were in London. Hazel took a moment to compose herself before standing up, she’d never gotten used to the erratic ride that the Knight Bus offered. They stepped out of the bus and rounded the corner to the Leaky Cauldron.

“Here we are, the Leaky Cauldron.” Hagrid told her as they approached the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I have complete control some things are different than in canon, one such example is the Blood Protection Dumbledore put on Privet Drive is gonna be a lie told by Dumbledore, as it did nothing in canon and Dumbledore is a manipulative asshole. Lily's Protection remains unchanged though. Also Remus/Tonks never happened, they were friends, but nothing more. I also briefly considered having the Knight Bus's conductor be someone other than Stan Shunpike as he was about 17 in 1991, when philosopher's stone takes place, but decided against it. Additionally Hagrid brought his own boat because in canon they just fuckin left the Dursleys on the island but they somehow got off it.  
> Also next chapter we should be getting that initial branching off the canon timeline


	4. Diagon Alley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trip to Diagon Alley. Once again I'm at it with the really creative summaries and chapter titles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: inadvertent deadnaming (documents from before she figured out she's trans)

“Here we are, the Leaky Cauldron.” Hagrid told her as they approached the doorway.

She reached for the door, but paused for a moment to fix her hair so that her bangs covered her scar and then continued. As she opened the door she saw the inside of the pub was the same as she remembered from the years old memories from her first 11th birthday. There was a group of old women in a corner, Dedalus Diggle talking to Tom the bartender, and Professor Quirrell in the corner. Tom looked up and asked “The usual, Hagrid?”

Hagrid looked towards Tom, patted Hazel on the shoulder and responded “Not today tom, I’m on Official Hogwarts business.”

Tom looked a tad confused “I thought it was Minerva who makes the visits to Muggleborn families.”

“Usually, but this one was a bit of a special case, family was quite unaccepting to the idea of magic as well as being downright unpleasant people in general”

“Well I shouldn’t keep you much longer then.” Tom said before turning back to Dedalus and resuming their conversation.

They made their way through the pub without much trouble unlike the  **first** first time she was there. Not being immediately recognizable as a public figure did have its perks. Out back they came to a small walled off area, behind which was Diagon Alley. Hagrid fished out his wand and after a bit of muttering to himself he tapped the wall with his umbrella.

The wall shuddered and shifted, the bricks rearranging to form an archway making the wall a bit thicker from the bricks displaced from the center. Past the archway was Diagon Alley, and Hazel let it hit her again. The last time she’d seen it so lively had been years before the Battle of Hogwarts and she hadn’t been to the Alley since, so she never had a chance to see how it flourished in the aftermath of the Battle. She’d forgotten how nice it was to see mages intermingling in the streets, free of the looming threat of Lord Voldemort.

“Welcome to Diagon Alley” Hagrid said while grinning at her amazement.

She looked around the Alley. There was a hooting from Eeylops Owl Emporium that had reminded her of Hedwig and that she would be with her dearly beloved owl again. She glanced at the boys pressing their faces against the window to the Quidditch store to get a better look at the Nimbus Two Thousand. Glancing to the other side of the Alley and she saw the vacant building that had become Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes and only barely managed to keep her sadness at the Weasley twins’ fate off her face.

After a bit of walking they arrived outside Gringotts bank. Hagrid led Hazel inside and to the counter.

“Morning, we’ve come to take some money outta the Potter Family Vault.” Hagrid said in a hushed voice to the goblin at the counter. “And also a copy of the Last Will and Testament of Lily and James Potter to determine a new guardian for Potter here.”

“You have the vault key, sir?” the goblin asked Hagrid.

“Got it somewhere.” Hagrid said as he started checking his pockets.

As Hagrid searched the goblin was visibly disgruntled about the ever growing pile of whatever was in Hagrid’s pockets.

“Here we are.” Hagrid said, holding up the key to the vault.

“That seems to be in order.” the goblin said after looking at the key.

Hagrid handed a letter to the goblin as he was putting his things back in his pockets saying “An’ I’ve also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore, it’s about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen.” Oh right, Hagrid was picking up the Philosopher’s stone today as well and just in the nick of time, as Quirrell would have stolen it otherwise.

The goblin read over the letter before saying “Very well, Griphook here will take you down to both faults. Griphook!”

Griphook escorted them to the vaults on the rickety cart system that was even more nausea inducing than the Knight Bus. Griphook took the key from Hagrid and unlocked her vault. Inside was a dizzying amount of gold, silver, and bronze. She never knew how much was in it exactly as it was enough to not have to worry about that unless you were making large purchases. She and Hagrid placed some in a bag before moving on. 

Another rickety cart ride to vault seven hundred and thirteen and they were there. Griphook told them to stand back before running his finger along the door causing it to melt away. The vault was as drab as she remembered it, only a packaged Philosopher’s Stone atop a small pedestal in the middle of the vault. Hagrid walked in and stuffed it in his coat before walking back out. They all got in and went back to the surface.

As they got to the surface Griphook turned to face them and said “Now for the will if you will come with me.” before gesturing to a room in the hall. Once inside the goblin said “Before I read the will, please note you must undergo an inheritance test. Nothing major, just a light prick of your finger to get a few drops of blood on this parchment while magic does the rest.”  
Odd, there was never a need to do an inheritance test before, though then again she’d never asked for her parent’s Will with intent to move to a new guardian in her original timeline so it made sense that never came up. She placed her left hand on the desk for the goblin to prick her finger with a knife. She winced at the pain, but after a few drops of blood fell onto the parchment the pain was gone and looking at her finger the injury that should’ve been there was no more. 

She glanced at the parchment to see and saw words beginning to form on it. 

**Name: Hazel Potter**

She lightly smiled at it recognizing her name, but that reminded her she would have to come up with a middle name still, she’d considered “Lily”, switching parents for her middle name, but that hadn’t felt right. Another moment passed and the parchment was fully filled out.

**Father(s):**

**James Potter(birth)**

**Sirius Black(blood adoption)**

**Mother(s):**

**Lily Potter(birth)**

She paused for a moment before reading forward, why had Sirius’ name appeared on the sheet and what was blood adoption? “What is blood adoption?” she asked Griphook.

“Blood adoption is a process in which a child and an unrelated mage are magically made into a blood relative. It is most frequently used by wealthy houses who are unable to conceive children for any number of reasons to allow the house to continue. However, it is also done between godparents and their godchild to give them a closer bond. Given the context of the war it is probable that this was done for both reasons.” Griphook elaborated “Sometimes after a blood adoption the adoptee’s physical appearance changes as a result of their new heritage, however this is not always the case.”

Hazel glanced to Hagrid who looked rattled. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Why do I have to be the one to explain the hard things?” Hagrid mumbled to himself before facing Hazel. “Hate to be the one ter tell yeh this, but Sirius Black is currently serving in Azkaban for the murder of 12 muggles and their friend Peter Pettigrew the day after yer parents were killed.” Hagrid said to Hazel with some difficulty.

Hazel shook her head, her face in fake disbelief. She already knew that Sirius was innocent and roughly where Peter was, but that wasn’t information she could share. However, she could use the assumed naivety to hint towards that without risk of revealing herself as being from the future. “H-he can’t have been. My parents trusted him enough to have him blood adopt me, whatever that means, why would they trust someone like that? It doesn’t make sense.”

Hagrid sighed and said “I couldn’t believe it either, but it’s unfortunately what happened. Moving on, we should probably get that will and look at a list of guardians.” He turned back towards Griphook and said “If you will.”

Griphook grabbed another piece of parchment from the desk and laid it out.

**The Last Will and Testament of Lily and James Potter**

After the title there were a number of paragraphs about what properties were to be given out that she skimmed over before reaching the section for potential caregivers. Sirius had been listed first, being her godfather and apparently adoptive father as well.

_Should Sirius Black be unable to care for Harry in the event of our passing, he should be sent to live with one of the following: Andromeda and Ted Tonks, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lord and Lady Longbottom. Under_ _NO_ _circumstances should he be placed under the care of Petunia and Vernon Dursley._

That was a rather short list of potential caregivers, with there being only two real options. Hagrid spoke up and said “Well, that settles it, I’ll be sending an owl about the situation to the Tonks family ter see if they can take you in.”  
“But what about the other options?” Hazel asked, she was really just curious as to what led him to chose the Tonks family over Lupin as she knew about why the others couldn’t take her in.

“Well, as I mentioned Pettigrew is dead, the Longbottoms aren’t much better off, having been put out o’ commission near the end of the war. As for why the Tonks family over Lupin, they’re written first in the Will so might as well check with them first.”

“I see” Hazel replied. 

They finished up in the bank and headed back out into the main part of the Alley to commence with their shopping. Most of the shopping was uneventful, though she did have to restrain herself at Flourish and Blotts and avoid looking at the more advanced books. After a while there were only two things that they needed to grab, her uniform, and her wand.

* * *

Hazel headed into Madam Malkins while Hagrid headed to the Leaky Cauldron to grab a quick drink and send a couple letters, one to the Tonks about adopting her, and the other to Dumbledore explaining the whole thing. As she stepped in Madam Malkin asked “Hogwarts dear? Got the lot here, another youngster’s being fitted up just now in fact.” 

Oh right, Draco was here. She didn’t like Draco for the actions he’d made at Hogwarts and during the Battle, but she had to remind herself that this Draco hadn’t made those decisions and his path could still be changed to avoid him becoming the Blood Supremacist he’d become in her original timeline, but the sooner she took action to push him off that path, the better.

Hazel stood on the stool next to him while Madam Malkin began sizing a robe. “Hello” Draco said, “Hogwarts too?”

“Yes” Hazel said.

“My father’s next door buying my books and Mother’s up the street looking at potions materials. Then once we have everything, I’m going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don’t get why us first years can’t have our own. Have you got your own broom?”  
“No, I can’t say I do.” Hazel replied, she did have the Firebolt, but that was something she gave up when travelling back, she was fairly sure the broom didn’t even exist yet.

“Ah, well. Any idea what House you’ll be in?” Draco asked back.

“No, I don’t.” Hazel was originally a Gryffindor, but with the time travel she couldn’t be sure that wouldn’t change.

“Well, it’s not really something you can know until you’re actually there, though I’m certain I’ll be in Slytherin like the rest of my family.”

A moment later Hagrid was visible out the front window, pointing at a couple ice creams in his hand to show he couldn’t come in. “I say, look at that man!” Draco said with a mocking expression.

“That’s Hagrid, he brought me to Diagon Alley.” Hazel replied.

“Why is he with you? Where are your parents?” Draco sneered.

“I’d rather not talk about it if it’s all the same to you.” she said as to try and avoid any further conversation, if she was to keep being the Girl who Lived to herself she didn’t want to give him any indication of that.

“Alright, sorry.” Draco said in a tone that told her that he wasn’t sorry, but he’d still drop the topic. After that they didn’t really speak much until Madam Malkin finished up with Hazel’s robes. She hopped off the stool and said “Well, see you at Hogwarts I guess” to Draco. 

She met back up with Hagrid and they ate the ice cream as they made their way on to Ollivanders to buy her wand.

* * *

As she entered Ollivanders she was greeted by Mr. Ollivander saying “Good afternoon” She made her way to the front desk where Mr. Ollivander was standing.

“Ah yes, I imagine you’d be here for your first wand then.” Ollivander said

“Yes sir.” Hazel said, silently hoping that Ollivander would settle on the holly and phoenix feather wand without the clue that she’s the Girl who Lived.

“Well now, which is your wand arm?” Ollivander asked her as to start with the selection process.

“Well, I’m right-handed sir, so I imagine my wand arm would also be my right”

“Hold out your arm” Ollivander instructed and as she did he began taking a number of measurements while talking about wand lore she had no use for. “Well, that’ll do it, now try this one. Beech wood and dragon heartstring, nine inches, nice and flexible, just give it a wave.

She gave the wand a wave knowing full well it wouldn’t do anything, they tried a number of different wands before Ollivander pulled out the right wand. “Now let’s try this one, an unusual combination, holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple.” She took the wand and felt the same warmth she’d felt the first time she’d held it in her original timeline.

“Very good!” Ollivander cried “But curious.”

“What’s curious Mr. Ollivander?” Hazel asked, he didn’t know she was the Girl who Lived right?

“I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, every single one. It just so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand gave another feather, to a thirteen-and-a-half inch yew wand. The very same wand used by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I think we must expect great things from you. After all, You Know Who did great things, terrible, but great.” After that she paid seven Galleons for the wand and left with Hagrid.

On their way back to the Leaky Cauldron to book a room Hagrid stopped for a moment and said “Oh yeah, I still haven’t got yeh a birthday present. I know i don’t have to, Tell yeh what, I’ll get yer an owl, they’re dead useful, can carry yer mail an’ everythin’.”

With that they headed to Eeylops Owl Emporium, where Hazel looked though the cages until she came across a beautiful snowy owl. Having “settled” on that one Hagrid paid for the owl and they left the store. Hazel stammered out her thanks, grateful to have her owl back, even if Hedwig didn’t recognize her.

They made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, booked a room and went to sleep after the day.

The next morning at the Leaky Cauldron Hagrid’s owl returned with a letter response from Andromeda and Ted Tonks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good grief there's so much to do before hogwarts, we'll probably get to the sorting ceremony in chapter 10


End file.
